Technology has developed recently, bringing with it a revolution in fields of communication, especially the use of social media platforms. Social media is a web-based technological innovation that facilitates the social interactions of people through the use of the internet (Cheung et al.,2015). Technological advancements have developed social media, making it an inevitable part of daily life due to the use of upgraded smartphones, computers, and laptops. Social networking involves the process of creating and developing virtual communities and relations between people online. Also, social networking enables individuals to connect using websites applications that are easily accessible through the use of smartphones. The purpose of this paper is to discuss FaceBook as an advancement widely used worldwide. Social networking technology has seen Facebook evolve and attracting billions of users for connectivity and sharing of ideas. The paper seeks to go deeper and exploit its history, user demographics, and future trends, among other details.
History and Evolution of Facebook
Facebook was invented and developed by Mark Zuckerberg, together with his colleagues, Chris Hughes, Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin. In 2004, the idea of developing website had taken root in which Zuckerberg and his classmates worked to connect internet users through a platform which would ease online socialization (Alhabash & Ma, 2017). Initially, Facebook was known as Facebook, which allowed Harvard students to use their photos and emails to connect with colleagues at school. Zukerberg predicted a way of bringing social experiences in the college, therefore, creating a connection on the internet where students will socialize and communicate through innovative perspectives.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Harvard institutions such as sororities and fraternities had developed in a way through which Zuckerberg was to take information and assemble it into a central location where each student could communicate effectively with one another. The Facebook turned to just Facebook in January of 2004 when he started coding for the new Facebook site, inspiration coming from Facemach. The site gained popularity at Harvard University as all students aided in the distribution of papers and pamphlets on their Facebook accounts, which led to the profiling of students and staff members in the institution.
URL thefacebook.com became a hit, and 24 hours after the launch, 1200 students had signed. Within a month, half of Harvard students had a profile on Facebook. Facebook URL facebook.com spread to other campuses at Stanford, Columbia, and Yale in August 2005 after the address was bought for over $200000 spreading to high school students who signed up and eventually spreading to other countries such as United Kingdom (Brügger, 2015). Facebook has dominated the world, with over two billion users who interact online through socialization and sharing ideas. The giant Facebook Company faces competition from other social media platforms such as YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and LinkedIn, which offer similar services to the Facebook platform. The future of Facebook is based on improved security and connectivity, to check on the privacy of users, as there are concerns from shareholders that communication is shifting private, and encoded services, where people’s interactions can be confident and stay secure, are in high demand.
User Demographics
Facebook is generally used by both women and men globally. According to recent demographics, Facebook is ranked second from YouTube, with 69% of adults in the US using the platform (Perrin, 2015). It is estimated that 74% of users visit the platform at least once in a day. Adults below the age of 65 use a Facebook platform in which 75% comprise women, while 63% encompasses men who visit the site daily. The usage of Facebook among teens has dropped drastically due to the advent of Snapchat, Instagram, and Youtube, which attracts many youths. Also, the demographics attest that only 51% of teens aged 13-17 years old use the platform, while 76% of youth aged 18-24 use Facebook daily (Perrin, 2015). The adults aged between 25-30, 31-49, and 50-64 uses Facebook on a scale of 84%, 76%, and 68%, respectively. Only 46% of older people use Facebook.
Facebook location demographics show that, in the US, 73% of the population living in urban centers uses the platform. In comparison, 69% and 66% of those residing in suburban areas and rural areas use Facebook. When demographics were analyzed in terms of education, it was noted that 61% of those with high school education uses Facebook while those with college education comprised 75%. The population with more than a college education consisted of 74%. Facebook income demographics indicated that 69% of Facebook users earn less than $30k, while 72% of users making $31k-$74k use the Facebook platform (Perrin, 2015). Only 74% of those earning more $75k used the Facebook platform.
Social Practices
The role of Facebook is generally to communication purposes. Keeping in touch with family members and friends motivates people to use the Facebook platform. The interactions brought about by Facebook enable friends and family to share updates of their daily living, therefore, facilitating socialization (Alhabash & Ma, 2017). Facebook offers a platform where family members and friends track the day’s events of other people even if they far from homes. Also, the sharing of information and photos has been made easier by the use of the platform. Nowadays, people take digital pictures and upload them on Facebook, where they attract huge fans and friends. Exciting and humorous information is shared across Facebook platforms where users access the information and break the monotony of being bored, therefore acting as a source entertained to users.
People are motivated to log into their Facebook accounts and get a glimpse of what is happening around them. Many users organize Facebook pages to blogs, companies, and news links where they click and get the required news information. Nowadays, people do not rely on radios and televisions to get the updated news but log into Facebook and get the latest treading news into their platforms. The development of the news tab on Facebook has seen users accessing both local and international news affecting different individuals in different parts of the world.
Theory Application
The most appropriate theory to approach usage and explain Facebook would be the social cognitive theory. The method was developed by Donald and Miller in 1941, suggesting that they learn a particular trait through observing and imitating observed actions reward individuals with positive reinforcement (Ainin et al., 2015)t. Social cognitive theory gives insights to those learning from Facebook as the acquisition of knowledge and getting information changes the people’s behaviors exposing them to different environments through observing their friends as well as learning from them. The theory explains that practices concerning cognitive, interpersonal factors and environmental occasions function as interacting determining factors of others. The approach recognizes the influence individuals have on what they do, their characteristics, and the way they respond to their surroundings.
Social cognitive is relevant to the use of Facebook as attitudes and behaviors are shaped through the observation from the platform (Ainin et al., 2015). People learn from Facebook due to the influence it has on their friends. People can watch what their friends do on Facebook and apply their ideas to them. Observing and learning from Facebook enables the users to comprehend what is useful to them while shunning away bad behaviors that might affect their lives. Also, the sharing of information on Facebook platforms travels faster and reaches vast crowds of people where they learn to change their behaviors according to their tastes, perceptions, and preferences.
As seen from the above discussion, Facebook plays a vital role in connecting people in the global world due to the face that almost everybody is familiar with the platform. Facebook operates to empower people to share ideas and information. The Facebook users share their feelings; get feedback from their friends as well as receiving appreciation for their achievements.
References
Ainin, S., Naqshbandi, M. M., Moghavvemi, S., & Jaafar, N. I. (2015). Facebook usage, socialization, and academic performance. Computers & Education , 83 , 64-73.
Alhabash, S., & Ma, M. (2017). A tale of four platforms: Motivations and uses of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat among college students?. Social Media+ Society , 3 (1), 2056305117691544.
Brügger, N. (2015). A brief history of Facebook as a media text: The development of an empty structure. First Monday , 20 (5).
Cheung, C., Lee, Z. W. & Chan, T. K. (2015). Self-disclosure in social networking sites. Internet Research .
Cohen, R., Newton-John, T., & Slater, A. (2017). The relationship between Facebook and Instagram appearance-focused activities and body image concerns in young women. Body Image , 23 , 183-187.
Perrin, A. (2015). Social media usage. Pew research center , 52-68.
